What do a comedienne, a librarian, and a walnut have in common?

One never knows when the opportunity for PR will arise. Julie Moore recently attended the California Library Association (CLA) Annual Conference in Riverside, and its Annual CLA Awards Gala with stand-up comedienne and author Paula Poundstone as the keynote speaker. Poundstone is also well-known for NPR’s weekly news quiz show, Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me!

Hundreds of librarians from all over the state attend this event, which is a pinnacle of the CLA Annual Conference. This year, the Gala was held at the historic Mission Inn November 3, 2017.

Poundstone was performing her stand-up routine, which included interacting with the audience, this elegant room full of librarians. She was asking various librarians what they did. She was quickly enlightened that there were different types of librarians and that they often have a “special section” in a way that only Poundstone could make sound funny.

She asked the audience, “Who is from Fresno?” as she went on to poke fun at the exhibit of raisin boxes in the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Moore raised her hand, the only person in the audience from Fresno. There were then a number of questions and answers back and forth between Poundstone and Moore, and of course, funny observations or conclusions made by Poundstone, which went something like this …

Paula Poundstone

Poundstone: “What is your job in the library?”
Moore: “I am the cataloger for Special Collections at Fresno State.”
Poundstone: “Special Collections? So what exactly is Special Collections?”
Moore: “It is the section of the library that houses the rarest, the most valuable, the oldest with early imprints and special editions, and the most unique resources. They are the most special resources in the library.”
Poundstone: “So what kinds of special resources are in the library at Fresno State?”
Moore: “Well, we have a lot of materials about raisins!” [Audience laughter]
Moore: “We have some beautiful manuscripts.”
Poundstone: “Really?! You have manuscripts at the Fresno State Library?”
Moore: “We also have one of the most important and largest world’s fair collections in the world.”
Poundstone: “A world’s fair collection? In Fresno?! [Audience laughter] So what kinds of things would be in a world’s fair collection? I’m just trying to get an idea of what that might even look like!”
Moore: “Books, pamphlets, postcards, and many 3-dimensional objects from the various world’s fairs.”
Poundstone: “What’s one of the most interesting things from the world’s fair collection?”
Moore: “A nut! We have a walnut in the world’s fair collection! [Entire audience (including Poundstone) burst out laughing.]
Poundstone: “You know, my aunt saved peach pits. She had a whole jar of them. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with them. Do you think your Special Collections would be interested in those peach pits?” [Audience laughing hysterically]
Poundstone: “Have you read Light From Arcturus? There were exactly NO nuts in that book! No nuts!”
Moore: “We actually have two nuts!”
Poundstone: “Two nuts … yes, of course you do!” [More audience laughter]
Moore: “They’re copy 1 and copy 2.”
[Audience laughter]
Moore: “There’s a little book inside of the walnuts.”
Poundstone: “Ohhhhhh! There’s a book inside of the walnut? Why didn’t you tell me that to begin with?!”
[Audience roaring with laughter.]

Poundstone went on with her spiel.

After Moore returned to work in Fresno, one of her colleagues called to ask what happened at CLA. He said that a number of his friends were texting him, asking him if he knew Julie Moore … because she was getting “Poundstoned!”

While listening to the rest of Poundstone’s performance, Moore found a photograph of one of the walnuts on her phone.

As the guests were leaving, many filed by Moore to have a good look at the photograph of the now famous walnut. Many were still laughing. Many asked, “So if I go to Fresno State’s Library, can I see the walnut book?” (Of course, everyone is welcome!)

At the end of the evening, Paula Poundstone was signing her new book, The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness. Moore purchased a book, and when she came to Poundstone, she showed her the photograph of the walnut book. She found it absolutely fascinating! (She also might come to visit the Fresno State Library!) She laughed and said, “Hey, I should take you on the road with me!”

Poundstone inscribed in her book: “To the Walnut Librarian! Love, Paula Poundstone.”

The walnut book is from the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair and is entitled, The World's Fair in a Nutshell. It is from the Donald G. Larson Collection on International Expositions and Fairs. The World’s Fair walnut books (copies 1 and 2) are currently on display in the Special Collections Research Center of the Henry Madden Library.